14 agosto 2017

Review: Rez Runaway, by Melanie Florence

Hey guys, how's the week starting?
As you know, I'm addicted to fantasy and paranormal, but every now and then I like to get out of my comfort zone. The synopsis of Rez Runaway, by Melanie Florence, attracted me a lot, so I decided to make the exception. Despite its small flaws, it was a reading that I want to talk to you about and I know you'll like it very much. ;)

There’s one reason for which I
prefer not to read realistic fiction so often, and that’s because I start to
feel a lot. It is just not fair that such a short book gives you so many
feelings. Reading Rez Runaway was the same as being in an emotional roller
coaster, and the bigest flaw of author Melanie Florence is that she wrote just
not enough pages for this story.

Although presented as a
coming-of-age novella, Rez Runaway is more about the social issuesfaced by
the young LGBT+ community, including the native context in a natural,
organic way, and focusing on those who are left on their own and that have to
chose a hell of a life over a death before time. It’s raw, cruel, but beautiful
and sweet as well, trying to find the balance between crude horror and
minimalistic bliss.

The best part is that it took
just a night to suffer, smile, fear and dream with Joe, Sid and John, althought
it’s bittersweet to leave this amazing trio, even more with such a cliffhanfer
for an ending, although the message is completely clear to the reader. See how
confused will Florence leave you? With a not so pretty collection of "to be or
not to be" kind of thoughts.
In case it isn’t obvious, this is
a book that practically reads itself as soon as you finish the first two chapters. The first one doesn’t really catch the attention, but does its job by
making you go to the next one, starting a domino effect, a cycle you
can only break from by reaching the end of the story, which seems to arrive way too
early after so many things the characters have to go through.

The only problems I find in it
were that, first, there are scenes at the beggining with a lack of emotion due
to the short space they have, their not-so-developed background, and, second,
the lack of importance for the topic of the two-spirited people. Everything
seems to happen faster that it should in order to create a proper impact in the
reader or make a real impression, which is a shame considering the way things
will finish like.

I also have issues with the
final scene and its ambiguity, the way it doesn’t specify many spots in Joe’s
life and what may happen next, but it's just something about personal taste,
as I perfectly know those who prefer open ending will utterly love it. This is
simply a warning for more traditional, purist readers like me: do not expect an
explicit clousure when you reach the last page.

The only and last thing I have
left to say is that I really appreciate that the publisher sent this ARC, along
with a huge thanks. I’m definitely reading something else from Melanie Florence
if I have the chance, and will be waiting for something better this time.
Reality sucks, but in the hands of this author, it teaches more than it seems to
do in our lives.